BlogCatalog

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama pocketed the support of at least four Democratic convention superdelegates on Wednesday, May 7th building on the momentum from a convincing North Carolina primary victory. Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton disclosed she had loaned her strapped campaign an additional $6.4 million in recent weeks.

Clinton showed no sign of surrender in the presidential race, but former Sen. George McGovern, the party's 1972 presidential candidate, urged her to reconsider.

Obama was at home in Chicago during the day as his aides spread word that he would soon begin campaigning in states likely to be pivotal in the fall campaign. They also relayed word of the four endorsements, expected to be made public later in the day. Both disclosures were meant to signal fresh confidence that the nomination was quickly coming into his possession after a grueling marathon across 15 months and nearly all 50 states...

Former Sen. Gorge McGovern, an early supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, urged her to drop out of the Democratic presidential race and endorsed her rival, Barack Obama.

After watching the returns from the North Carolina and Indiana primaries Tuesday night, McGovern said Wednesday it's virtually impossible for Clinton to win the nomination. The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee said he had a call in to former President Clinton to tell him of the decision, adding that he remains close friends with the Clintons.

"I will hold them in affection and admiration all of my days," he said of the Clintons.

McGovern's announcement comes a day before Clinton was scheduled to travel to South Dakota to campaign. The state holds its primary June 3 with 15 pledged delegates at stake.

No one has ever come close to this in history. And it was done by the Internet, destroying the power of major donors to control a candidate, empowering so many to make a difference and altering the face of campaign finance for ever. And yet the Democrats are seriously considering rebuking this astonishing achievement in favor of an old nepotistic pol whose campaign, when it hasn't been incompetent and complacent, has been straight from the Rove playbook

That sum means the campaign is fairly clearly into Bill Clinton's earnings, in theory making it more difficult to avoid questions about the source of his income. The last loan, Clinton's aides said, was drawn from Hillary's book earnings.

Though these are techically loans, these are very difficult to repay, as they must be paid from primary funds. There's some speculation this morning that Obama could help Clinton retire debt, possibly including the campaign's debt to her.

Sen. Barack Obama took a large and potentially decisive step toward the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, making dramatic symbolic and numerical gains in North Carolina and Indiana.

Obama’s emphatic North Carolina victory, and a narrow loss in Indiana, extended his lead in the count of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and in most counts of the combined popular vote.

As important, they diminished Clinton’s rationale for urging Democratic superdelegates to override his delegate lead and give the nomination to her.

Sen. Barack Obama took a large and potentially decisive step toward the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, making dramatic symbolic and numerical gains in North Carolina and Indiana.

Obama’s emphatic North Carolina victory, and a narrow loss in Indiana, extended his lead in the count of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and in most counts of the combined popular vote.

As important, they diminished Clinton’s rationale for urging Democratic superdelegates to override his delegate lead and give the nomination to her.

We just won a decisive victory in North Carolina thanks to people like you.

Indiana remains too close to call. But what is clear is that we did much better than all the pundits predicted, despite Republicans changing parties to support Senator Clinton, believing she would be easier for Senator McCain to defeat.

Here's where we stand.

As of Tuesday morning, we needed just 273 delegates to clinch the nomination. When the votes are fully counted Wednesday morning, we will have gained more than a third of them in a single day.

We have a clear path to victory. But now is the time for each one of us to step up and do what we can to close out this primary.

The results from the two primaries, the largest remaining Democratic ones, assured that Mr. Obama would widen his lead in pledged delegates over Mrs. Clinton, providing him with new ammunition as he seeks to persuade Democratic leaders to coalesce around his campaign. He also increased his lead in the popular vote in winning North Carolina by more than 200,000 votes.

"Don't ever forget that we have a choice in this country," Mr. Obama said in an address in Raleigh, N.C., that carried the unity themes of a convention speech. "We can choose not to be divided; that we can choose not to be afraid; that we can still choose this moment to finally come together and solve the problems we've talked about all those other years in all those other elections."

Barack Obama's quest to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination got a lift with a big win in North Carolina and a strong run in Indiana, where he did significantly better than expected against the favored Hillary Clinton.

... Tuesday's results will influence the ongoing and ultimately decisive "invisible primary" for the support of superdelegates -- the governors, members of Congress and party officers who can vote for any candidate at Democrats' late-August convention. Sen. Obama has cut Sen. Clinton's early big lead to about 15 superdelegates -- he has an estimated 255 to her 270

... He leads in pledged delegates won in the previous 45 primaries and caucuses, and likely will reach a majority of pledged delegates with the Oregon and Kentucky primaries.

Sen. Barack Obama scored a landslide victory in North Carolina's Democratic presidential primary yesterday, moving him ever closer to locking up an insurmountable lead among pledged delegates, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton posted a razor-thin win in the hotly contested Indiana primary...

... The twin results solidified the status quo in the Democratic race, one that now gives Obama the clear advantage in the battle for the nomination because of his solid lead in the tally of pledged delegates. Despite her Indiana victory, Clinton emerged even more the underdog in the nomination battle.